Battle Buddy

One of the things that I missed most while I was in bootcamp....both times.... was my personal freedom. When you enlist into the military you realize that personal freedoms are stripped from you.

Now we all know the big freedoms that are taken from you like, your comfy bed, or your cell phone, or sleeping-in in the mornings. But many people don’t realize that there are small things that we miss like chairs, freedom to think for myself.... instead of what I’m going to be doing all day, but what I missed the most was my personal space. Shortly after I was introduced to my demon..I mean my Drill Sergeant, I was paired up with another guy. The job that we had with each other was to follow each other around....EVERYWHERE. When I went to go eat, he was sitting next to me. When I went to bed, he was in the bottom bunk below me. When I went to take a shower, you guessed it…he was there. It got a little crazy because by the time I graduated bootcamp I started to think my reflection was his. So when I left bootcamp I was so excited because I thought I could be myself again......wrong. As soon as I got to my unit, I was paired up with another guy and the vicious cycle happened again.

Now even though this can be annoying, there actually is a purpose to this. A battle buddy is the person you automatically expect to watch your back. This means the enemy can’t sneak up behind you, because someone is looking over your shoulder. The enemy needs more firepower, because there are more than one. The enemy has to use strategy and maneuver to attempt to ambush you, because now you have brought your buddies with you to the fight. This person is trained just like you, but they can see in your blind spots. They can look out for the evil drill sergeant while you sneak a glass of Gatorade at the cafeteria. They are there for YOU, that’s their sole purpose. One thing that happens is that you actually start to care for you battle buddy and you start willing to sacrifice yourself for your buddy. BUT your buddy has the same feeling so you both fight harder, push yourselves harder, and you both become one fighting force.

Over the years, I sometimes got the opportunity to pick my battle buddy. When I was going to deploy to Iraq, I paired up with one of my closest buddies. He actually volunteered to go to Iraq with me because we thought it would be fun to go together. Since we’ve been close friends for several years and worked together in the Army, we figured it just made sense. Also, since he had already been to Iraq I thought I could use a combat veteran by my side, especially since I was promoted to Sergeant and Team Leader.

I remember we were in New Jersey literally about ready to get on a plane to Iraq in 2007. While our unit was training for combat, I recieved notification that my mother was on life support. I was immediately flown home and had to make funeral arrangements. After about a week, I got a call from my unit and was told that I had to be back in New Jersey in 48 hours. I had to say my goodbyes all over and prepare to head to war completely broken, however, I didn’t know the extent my my brokeness. When I got back to New Jersey, I was sent out into the field, which simulated what Iraq was suppose to be like. I remember one night they pretended to mortar our base, I ran outside in almost my underwear pretending to take cover. In the middle of the night, my battle buddy looked at me and immediately knew something was wrong. He knew about my family problems, but this ran deeper. The next day, I was going through battle field operations and I had a mental breakdown. I just started crying uncontrollably and couldn’t function. Luckily, my battle buddy was right there and immediately grabbed me. He literally pulled me by my bullet proof vest to the Chaplain’s office. What I didn’t see was that I hadn’t processed the grief of my mother yet, or that I was homeless when I got back because I moved back in with my mother during the deployment, or the grief of my family falling completely apart, or the thought of leading three kids to war, etc etc etc. I was blinded by just doing what I was told, but he saw my blind spots and protected me from dangers.

You see

This is why it is important that we all have battle buddies. We all were created to desire community. When God created Adam, God saw that Adam wasn’t content alone. We are designed to have people around us. We learned last week that we are in the middle of a spiritual war and because we are at war we need battle buddies. Now remember what I say, Battle Buddy. There is a distinct difference between a buddy and a battle buddy. Let me explain and describe the difference.

The first difference is that a battle buddy has to be trained like you and have the same goal. Look at

The Holman Christian Standard Bible Chapter 12

9 Love must be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. 10 Show family affection to one another with brotherly love. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lack diligence; be fervent in spirit; serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. 13 Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Be in agreement with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

Paul knows that we are in a spiritual battle and he wants the church to come together. He has mentioned several times that he had a passion to come to Rome to preach at the church there. Paul was a Roman Citizen and a Pharisee. He had a passion to go back to his roots to the capital of the empire and teach to his people. He wanted them to stop acting wrongly, and instead focus their attention on Jesus. You see the Roman Church was being prosecuted. Actually, the early church was being attacked by every direction. The Roman Jews hated them, the government hated them, and even some of their own congregation hated them. They were fighting battles everywhere. This is why Paul knew that the church had to unite and move to one single goal. This was to segregate themselves from this world and to move toward sanctification!

Focus your attention on verse 9 “De

Look at these key verses “Detest evil; cling to what is good.” Paul is flat out saying fight the evil battle and fight for God, because this Jesus that came down and sacrificed for our sins is Good. “Do not lack diligence; be frevent in spirit.” Another word used instead of Frevert is aglow. This is used only one other time in the New Testament at its in , where it describes Apollos being filled with the Holy Spirit. He taught accurately things about Jesus and began baptizing people. Paul is specifically addressing believers. “Share with the saints in their needs” These are believers that have the Holy Spirit living within them. These believers are your battle buddies. They are to be filled with the spirit and working diligently to remain filled with the Holy Spirit. So the first requirement of a battle buddy is a believer. They need to be a believer like you to have the Holy Spirit within them.

The second part of being a battle buddy is very tricky and delicate. Since they are trained like you, they have to hold the same values as you. Their job is to keep you working toward the Glory of God. This means they are to keep you on the path of righteousness. Flip to , 2

The Holman Christian Standard Bible Chapter 6

6 Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you also won’t be tempted. 2 Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

The Holman Christian Standard Bible Chapter 6

6 Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you also won’t be tempted. 2 Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But each person should examine his own work, and then he will have a reason for boasting in himself alone, and not in respect to someone else. 5 For each person will have to carry his own load.

Paul again lays it right out there in front of everyone. Verse 1; Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrong doing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit” When we start getting tempted or start wondering off the path of righteousness, it is the duty of our battle buddy to correct us. This is the blindness that I wasn’t able to see for myself. Now full disclaimer, this doesn’t mean you have a pass to shame someone. Look carefully at verse 1, “with a gentle spirit” and there’s a reason for this.

Imagine this, think of something that you were doing wrong. For instance, lets say cheating on a test or talking on the phone while driving. When you get caught what is your first instinct? Its being defensive to trying to tell the other person it’s not what you think. Let me give you a real live illustration. My son, who’s 8 years old. We send our kids to bed at 7:30 on school nights. Since they are old enough, my wife and I just tell them to go to their rooms. One night I sent the boy to bed, on a school night, and at about 11 I head upstairs to head to bed. For some reason, I walked passed his room and saw some light coming from inside his room, but quickly turned off. I turned on his light, he quickly stuffed something under his pillow. Then he sat up like I just woke him up. I asked him what that light was he said nothing.